ART's 'Julius Caesar' meets the '60s

Friday

Feb 29, 2008 at 12:01 AM

Just as the two Democratic presidential candidates became entangled in a well-publicized spat over the power of words, American Repertory Theatre opened its production of William Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar," a play that has a lot to say on the subject.

David Brooks Andrews

Just as the two Democratic presidential candidates became entangled in a well-publicized spat over the power of words, American Repertory Theatre opened its production of William Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar," a play that has a lot to say on the subject.

It's about politicians in Ancient Rome using words to change the course of history — in their case, often destructively. Cassius persuades Brutus to join the conspiracy to kill his close friend, Julius Caesar. And Mark Anthony uses his funeral oration to turn the masses against Brutus and his co-conspirators, starting an all-out war.

The words in ART's production of "Julius Caesar" are delivered straightforwardly, sometimes too much so. French director Arthur Nauzyciel tends to have his actors stand dozens of yards apart when talking to each other and often has them facing the audience rather than the characters they are addressing. This dilutes the intimacy and naturalness of the story, no doubt intentionally so.

James Waterston (son of actor Sam Waterston) makes a lovely choice as Mark Anthony to deliver the funeral oration simply and directly, allowing Shakespeare's words to move the masses, rather than trying to be overly impassioned.

Mark L. Montgomery as Cassius, on the other hand, tends to let his words fall into a repetitive rhythm and pattern as he spits them out, thus losing some of their specificity and meaning. Thomas Derrah is emotionally specific with his words while giving Julius Caesar an appropriately ambiguous tone. And James True-Frost as Brutus is almost too clear and straightforward when speaking, making his words seem more like those of a secure businessman than a man wrestling with his soul.

But like so many of ART's productions, this "Julius Caesar" is not primarily about words or even about acting. It's primarily about the stunning visual and musical spectacle that Mr. Nauzyciel and his designers create around Shakespeare's text. Throughout the first act and the beginning of the second, the design elements — particularly Riccardo Hernandez's set and David Remedios' sound design — are as effective as they've ever been at an ART production.

With a red carpet covering the entire stage and two life-sized photographs of the theater's empty seats covering the rear wall, they've created the sense that the play is taking place at an American political convention. The men's black suits and narrow black ties and the women's evening gowns are reminiscent of JFK's presidency and establish resonances between his assassination and the assassination of Caesar.

A sheer white curtain, with a strong light behind it, is lowered to give the feeling that Brutus' hotel room, with its 1960s-style furniture, is part of the convention center. It's an extraordinarily haunting scene when Cassius and his conspirators arrive in their dark suits, with thin masks over their eyes, to persuade Brutus to join them. As each man takes a sip from a single wine glass that's passed among them, it feels like a perverse communion ritual.

There are a number of other haunting scenes — Portia, dressed in what looks like a gown made of purple bed sheets wrapped around her, dancing slowly with her husband Brutus, while trying to persuade him to share his thoughts after he's met with the conspirators, and later the conspirators ceremoniously holding out their hands covered in Caesar's blood.

Mr. Nauzyciel brilliantly weaves a live jazz trio into the story, performing sultry songs with lyrics appropriate to the moment. "Say it ain't so," they sing, with Portia backing the vocalist up, just before the conspirators head off to kill Caesar. As unlikely as the concept may seem, it works beautifully as the trio helps to expand the contemporaneousness of the play.

While the visual images feel so right throughout the first act, they become too free-wheeling in the second act. A car lowered from the flies, aimed towards the ground, may mirror a 1970s art installation, but it doesn't make a lot of sense in the play. Neither does a knitted winter cap on Mark Antony's head. Nor do servants literally rolling on and off stage. As a result, the second act tends to drag even more than it would otherwise.

Mr. Nauzyciel attempts multiple concepts at the same time, almost like parallel universes. One is that we're seeing the play through the eyes of Brutus' young slave, Lucius, who, in this production, can't speak and signs his words. Another is that the ghost of Portia welcomes the dying into the next life, which makes for a snappy and surprising dance number at the end. And yet another is that it's all a dream, taking place almost in slow motion at times.

Whichever concept you choose to embrace, this production is sure to expand your sense of "Julius Caesar" in ways you never dreamed were possible before.

"Julius Caesar"

What: Shakespeare's play about the assassination of Julius Caesar given a creative 1960s visual twist.

Where: American Repertory Theatre, 64 Brattle St., Cambridge.

When: Through March 16.

Tickets: Range from $39 to $79 and can be purchased by calling (617) 547-8300 or by going on line to www.amrep.org.

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